In my opinion, avocados should be ranked as one of the top five healthiest foods on the planet. You may be surprised to learn about how many avocado benefits there are.

Why should you eat avocados? Avocados are truly an amazing food for many reasons, but until recently, you wouldn’t know it.

If you don’t already eat avocados, you have been seriously missing out, and if you already can’t get enough of them, be prepared to fall even deeper in love with them after you’ve read our ultimate guide to the health benefits of this wonder fruit.

You may be wondering, is an avocado a fruit or a vegetable? In fact, avocados are actually a fruit. They are great in both savory and sweet dishes.

If you haven’t found enough reasons to eat avocados more often, this article will definitely make you fall in love with this nutrient-packed bomb.

Avocados offer an array of health benefits, but let’s just go through the most important:

Packed With Nutrients

Avocados contain almost 20 vitamins and minerals that are essential to good health and healthy body function. Of your recommended daily intake (RDI) one avocado contains:

53% Vitamin K
41% Folate
33% Vitamin C
28% Potassium
26% Vitamin B6
21% Vitamin E
19% Copper
These numbers are pretty impressive, and if this alone doesn’t convince you to go out and stock up on avocados, we can look at some of the wider implications for your health that all of these have on our bodies, as well as the other ways they can benefit us.

Weight Management

Admittedly a surprising follow-up point to how great of a source of fat avocados are, studies have shown that this fruit can actually help keep hunger at bay when eaten as part of your healthy meals.

If you always find yourself reaching for snacks mid-morning or afternoon, try adding avocado to your diet and you will feel much less inclined to snack between meals.

Diabetes Prevention

Scientists estimate that diabetes will affect 40% of Americans at some point in their lifetime. Quite a daunting fact, but there are many things you can do to reduce your risk of developing diabetes; one of the most effective ways is by keeping blood sugar levels stable.

One study which had one group of participants eat lunches with avocado and another group without, found that those who had eaten avocado as part of their lunch showed no increase in blood sugar levels when compared to those who hadn’t eaten avocado.

Amazingly, by simply adding this fruit to your normal diet, you too could avoid these spikes in blood sugar levels following meals.

Skin and hair

You amy enjoy buying yourself luxury creams and lotions, but avocados work better than any of these, plus you won’t have to smear anything on your skin. Avocados work from the inside out.

Energy

Healthy fats boost energy, and keep you going through the day. The good news is that your energy won’t “crush.” Avocados make a nice addition to any carb dish, as they slow down the digestion of carbs, and prevent the “sugar crash.”

Pregnancy

Folate is of utmost importance for expecting moms. It plays an important role in the development of the neural tube, and baby’s brain, spine and bones will grow from it. Avocados are an excellent source of folate, potassium, and vitamins B6 and C. Vitamin B6 also soothes morning sickness.

Blood pressure

Sodium-high diet is one of the reasons you may deal with hypertension. Potassium “kills” the effect of sodium in the body, and thus regulates blood pressure. Avocados are rich in this mineral.

Cholesterol

Avocados raise good cholesterol, and lower the bad one. Eat avocados more often, and you arteries will work without any obstructions. Clean your arteries, and your heart will thank you. This will also reduce your risk of developing heart disease.

Inflammation

Chronic inflammation creates perfect conditions for the development of asthma, allergies, arthritis, and heart disease.

Oleic acid reduces inflammation, as confirmed by studies. Yes, avocados are super packed with it. Prevent artery damages by adding an avocado to your menu. This will reduce any damage and plaque deposits.

Pain Relief

If you’re suffering from arthritis, you might be interested to know that avocado extract has been proven to reduce its symptoms, and thanks to its anti-inflammatory benefits, as we’ve just discovered, inflammatory-related aches and pains could be reduced by including it in your diet too.

Eye Health

Avocados contain two important nutrients, lutein and zeaxanthin, both of which are essential for fighting one of the leading causes of blindness in the U.S. today—macular degeneration.

Unlike some nutrients, the only way to get these into your body is through diet. Thankfully, avocados are the best source of lutein among the top 20 fruits most regularly consumed in America, so we’re sure you can see the benefit to eating more of them.